SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF SCOTCH 



GARDENS 



TO write on Scottish gardens and their peculiarities is a task Diversity of 

 that one assumes with diffidence. For, if it be true that the Climate 

 characteristics and habits of nations are due largely to the 

 influences of climate, it is no less a fact that climate is the 

 governing force of the gardening world. In the North, it 

 causes us to use every possible means to secure shelter, and to 

 husband every ray of sunshine. At the same time, it must be 

 understood that Scotland abounds in diversities of temperature. 

 On the west coast of Argyllshire, in Ross-shire, and in Skye, 

 delicate plants and rare shrubs, which in England live outside 

 only in Devonshire or Cornwall, thrive in an amazing way. In 

 the counties adjoining the Moray Firth, the Solway, the Firth 

 of Forth, in East Lothian, the Carse of Gowrie, and various 

 other parts, equally good results are obtained with vegetation 

 of a tender nature. Last year, while staying near Fortrose, 

 on the east coast of Ross-shire, I was able to pick Sweet Peas 

 and Tea Roses as late as the beginning of December; and at 

 Cromarty, a few miles off, Apricots and Peaches ripen on sunny 

 walls. 



On the whole, however, the climate of Scotland is of a less 

 generous nature, and on that account a high-walled kitchen 

 garden becomes the place where carefully tended and often 

 delightfully effective flower borders are found. For these a 

 beautiful screen may be formed by Pear and Apple trees trained 

 on espaliers, the blossoms of which provide a welcome addition 



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